Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
I received my PhD from the University of New South Wales with a thesis entitled "Shakespeare as Jukebox Musical". I also hold an MA with Distinction in Shakespeare and Theatre from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham and separate first-class honours degrees in Theatre Studies and in Opera Studies from Manchester University/ Rose Bruford College.
Prior to turning to academia, I had a career as a solicitor, both in-house and in private practice. I also have professional translation experience and I'm an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Linguists. I hold an LLB(Hons) in Law and French and a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Edinburgh, as well as a Certificate of Higher Education in Scottish Gaelic language and culture (An Cùrsa Adhartais) from the University of the Highlands and Islands.
My research mainly focuses on theatre and internationalization. Within this area I work on theatre, opera, the musical, adaptation and community, and the general framework of European cultural history, with a particular interest in the ways that musical and operatic adaptations of Shakespeare and other playwrights for the spoken stage have been used to create and maintain various forms of local, national and international community, both in the past and today. I am particularly interested in theatregoing and operagoing as inclusive/ exclusive activities, in initiatives by performing arts companies to identify and reduce barriers to participation, and in the potential roles for arts administration to create and maintain different forms of community.
My monograph, Shakespeare as Jukebox Musical, was published by Routledge in 2018.
I am currently co-editing The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Internationalization with Dr Brangwen Stone, University of Sydney. The Companion approaches theatre and internationalization in two ways: as a set of practices (Making International Theatre) and as a set of discourses (Making Theatre International). Its chapters explore, document and theorise the practical aspects of making international theatre, with a focus on research that incorporates the work of artists, translators, administrators, support staff, funders, etc. behind the scenes as much as those who appear on stage.
I am also the co-editor, with Associate Professor James Phillips, University of New South Wales, of Barrie Kosky's Transnational Theatres (Springer, 2021) and, with Associate Professor Ulrike Garde, of Theatre and Internationalization: Perspectives from Australia, Germany, and Beyond (Routledge 2021).
From 2020 to 2023 I was a Research Fellow currently working on an Australian Research Council Discovery Project on the economic and cultural value of theatre in Australia, led by Distinguished Professor David Throsby. From 2017 to 2019, I was a Macquarie University Research Fellow in the former Department of International Studies: Languages and Cultures, where I worked on a research project on the Australian director Barrie Kosky, especially in relation to his approaches to community.
I jointly founded the research cluster "Staging Migration in Berlin: Opera, Theatre, Performance, Film" within Macquarie University's Department of International Studies: Languages and Cultures. In conjunction with this research cluster, I organised a twin-themed conference on "Theatre and Internationalisation" and "Barry Kosky: Past, Present, Future" in Sydney in 2019, including a public discussion panel in association with the Goethe-Institut Australia. In 2022, I organised with Ulrike Garde a second international conference on "Theatre and Internationalisation" with the theme "Negotiating Mobility, Diversity, Belonging". I am also part of the Global Literatures and Cultures research stream, and the Macquarie University hub of the Centre for the History of the Emotions.
I have contributed lectures, seminars and tutorials to ENGL309 Shakespeare and the Renaissance (undergraduate), ENGL701 Shakespeare and the Renaissance (Masters), GMN361 Berlin: A Window on German History and Culture, GMN363 Germany: An Intercultural Perspective, INTS1000 Language and Communication: Cultural Contexts, INTS104 Societies of Europe, INTS1040 European Cultures and Societies, INTS2020 Citizenship, Borders and Transnationalism, and INTS3040 Global Issues (Capstone).
Research interests
- Theatre and Internationalisation
- European cultural history
- The theatre director
- Opera
- Musical theatre and film
- Shakespeare
- Adaptation
- Community
- Arts policy
Education/Academic qualification
Theatre Studies and English, PhD, The University of New South Wales
Shakespeare and Theatre, MA(Dist), University of Birmingham
Law and French, LLB(Hons), University of Edinburgh
Legal Practice, Postgraduate Diploma, University of Edinburgh
Theatre Studies, BA(Hons), University of Manchester
Opera Studies, BA(Hons), University of Manchester
Scottish Gaelic language and culture, CertHE (Dist), University of the Highlands and Islands
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Finished
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DAAD: Theatre and Internationalisation in Australia and Germany: Transitional Stages, Artistic Practices and Institutional Frameworks
Garde, U., Severn, J., Heeg , G., Baisch , C., Reiser , S., Rusch, F. W. & Wölfl , H.
4/01/21 → 31/12/23
Project: Research
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Beyond cultural borders: Barrie Kosky's rethinking of community in artistic and practical terms
Severn, J. & Garde, U.
1/02/17 → 31/12/19
Project: Research
Research Outputs
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The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Internationalization
Severn, J. R. (ed.) & Stone, B. (ed.), 31 Oct 2025, (In preparation) Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.Research output: Book/Report › Edited Book/Anthology › peer-review
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All's Well That Ends Well's Paroles and the bisexual miles gloriosus: early modern expectations, modern stagings
Severn, J. R., 11 Jul 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Shakespeare. p. 1-21 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Bell Shakespeare's admirable new Dream
Severn, J. R., 12 Mar 2024, In: Australian Book Review. 1 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article/Exhibition review
Open Access -
Barrie Kosky's 'King Lear' and Australia's decolonising processes
Severn, J. R., 11 Sept 2024, (Accepted/In press) Re-mapping Shakespeare: hybridity, diversity and adaptation. Levick, C. (ed.). Routledge, Taylor and Francis GroupResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Preference formation in demand for live theatre
Throsby, D., Severn, J. R. & Petetskaya, K., Jun 2024, In: Journal of Cultural Economics. 48, 2, p. 285-310 26 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile31 Downloads (Pure)
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Theatre and Internationalisation in Australia and Germany
John Severn (Organiser) & Ulrike Garde (Organiser)
28 Nov 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising a conference, workshop or event series
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Theatre and Internationalisation: Negotiating Mobility, Diversity and Belonging
John Severn (Organiser) & Ulrike Garde (Organiser)
29 Nov 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising a conference, workshop or event series
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Book launch: Theatre and Internationalization: Perspectives from Australia, Germany and Beyond.
Ulrike Garde (Member of programme committee), David Throsby (Participant), John Severn (Member of programme committee), Jonathan Bollen (Member of programme committee) & Sonja Griegoschewski (Participant)
2 Dec 2020Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising a conference, workshop or event series
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Creating Inclusive Communities through Opera
John Severn (Speaker)
10 Apr 2019Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Panel discussion on Barrie Kosky and Theatre and Internationalisation
John Severn (Speaker)
26 Apr 2019Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk